ASUS rtn66u 5GHZ wireless periodically malfunctions

[wh7qq]

There are lots of power bricks for sale on eBay, Amazon, etc. Just be sure they are "regulated", current ratings are at least as high as the original and the voltage is the same ( I recall 18 volts). They aren't expensive. Save the old power brick as you may need to splice the power cord. A new router can be had for around $100 US and will be much faster on wifi but it is not guaranteed to solve your problem.

Planning for the eventual failure of my RT-N66 (going to drive the wheels off), the RT-AX55 or 56 look good at the moment and about in my price range. John's Fork does not support but factory release date is one of my primary criteria.

 

[Tech9]

( I recall 18 volts)

19V 1.75A

but factory release date is one of my primary criteria.

Newer is not always better.

 

[wh7qq]

19V 1.75A

Well, close anyhow...getting old here.

Newer is not always better.

Consumer routers aren't supposed to last like the RT-N66 has but newer does seem to get longer support for the firmware. Fingers crossed. A reputation for quality used to mean something. These days with mfg. "cost reduction" in fashion, you just never know.

 

[Tech9]

These days with mfg. "cost reduction" in fashion, you just never know.

I know what's inside some of the newer ones. As per TomatoAnon, many Buffalo WHR and Linksys WRT series 802.11g routers are still in use.

 

[Adooni]

do you have anything connected to USB? I do not why but in the past N66U and AC66U had issue with wi-fi 5GHz when USB was connected - this happen over a time.

additional it was a time 2009-2014y Asus was using very bad quality DC that did not provided necessary "power" after 3-5y

I have one Asus WL-500W working with LTE (15y old) that do not have any issues and will work for next 15y

 

[absolution]

do you have anything connected to USB? I do not why but in the past N66U and AC66U had issue with wi-fi 5GHz when USB was connected - this happen over a time.

additional it was a time 2009-2014y Asus was using very bad quality DC that did not provided necessary "power" after 3-5y

I have one Asus WL-500W working with LTE (15y old) that do not have any issues and will work for next 15y

Hi @Adooni
I do have something connected to USB (a memory stick for running diversion). However, this issue has been going on for longer than the the time the USB stick has been connected.

Interesting about the poor DC power supply, maybe I should try a replacement...

 

[absolution]

Update: I bought a new power brick and the router has currently been up for 2 days and 10 hours without the 5GHz derping. So far so good!

 

[absolution]

Never mind, it happened again. Maybe the router has had it.

 

[Tech9]

RT-AC66U B1 is the cheapest Asuswrt-Merlin supported router, it's the same form factor as RT-N66U and much faster as processing power. If your RT-N66U was enough for your needs, this is your direct replacement. It uses the same power supply as your RT-N66U, you'll have one spare.

 

[absolution]

Thanks @Tech9
I'm actually contemplating something slightly newer. I like the look of the RT-AX68U's price point but I can't find a huge amount of information about whether the router is decent or not. Any thoughts?

 

[L&LD]

The RT-AX68U will be supported by RMerlin with v386.4, but as to the performance, nobody knows right now.

Depending on the price difference between the RT-AX86U and the RT-AX68U, it may be a wiser purchase to just get the outstanding RT-AX86U instead.

 

[absolution]

The RT-AX68U is roughly double the price which is a bit much for me...
TBH I'm a little surprised that there's so little info out there on the RT-AX68U. Why is that?

 

[L&LD]

Okay, double the price is not what I see here. I would still consider waiting for a sale on the RT-AX86U though.

I don't think this model has been out that long, and the specs are much worse (to me) than the slightly more expensive but highly responsive RT-AX86U offers.

Knowing what I know about the RT-AX86U, even at double the price, I would still prefer to save up for that model instead.

(Even having no experience at all with the RT-AX68U, today. But half the cores and half the RAM and half the streams do not make for a very convincing argument even with some money saved. I feel this purchase would be regrettable long before the RT-AX86U would be).

 

[Tech9]

I like the look of the RT-AX68U's price point

I'm sure you'll be pushed to spend $250 on an RT-AX86U, but if you were happy with your RT-N66U for so long perhaps RT-AX58U for $135 is all you need. The newer HND platform routers don't have Per IP traffic monitoring in Asuswrt-Merlin firmware, if it's important for you. RT-AX68U is not popular, it's overpriced and looks like a toaster.

 

[absolution]

This is the same RT-AX86U, right?
Maybe we just get the worst UK deals but it for sure seems like its roughly double the price of the AX68U...

The RT-AX58U's price point looks alright! ASUS's naming of their products is confusing. Apparently its crazy to think that a higher number in a given brand means its a better product (AX68U vs AX58U)

 

[Tech9]

Most Asus model numbers are a suggestion what eventually you may want to upgrade to, similar to what you already have in shape and size.

N66U -> AC66U -> AC66U B1
AC68U -> AX68U
AC88U -> AX88U
AC86U -> AX86U

 

[absolution]

Sure, I get that. It's just a bit weird to me that the number within a series doesn't really indicate performance.

So, I might actually try something a bit different which will probably make most of you vom...
My RTN66U is good in every other way besides the 5GHz dropout. It occurred to me that I have a BT Hub 6 that's AC wireless and I could hook that up as an access point.
I've done some fiddling with it and I can get my devices to connect to the hub as an access point provided that I don't then connect the same device to the ASUS wireless; DHCP goes a bit weird and my device cannot get an IP address when reconnecting to the hub.
For me, this is OK as I would only need the hub as the wireless provider.

Thank you all for providing suggestions about upgrade paths. I am going to need to upgrade the n66u at some point so I should be able to follow your upgrade advice a little further down the line (and hopefully the AX86U is a bit cheaper then...)

 

[Adooni]

if you want to investigate it more you can try load alternative FW like FreshTomato and check wi-fi operation. Before doing it you would need to downgrade AsusWRT to very old one like 380.70

internet speed will not be good 150Mbit but you could check if you have the same issue with wi-fi.

 

[absolution]

if you want to investigate it more you can try load alternative FW like FreshTomato and check wi-fi operation. Before doing it you would need to downgrade AsusWRT to very old one like 380.70

internet speed will not be good 150Mbit but you could check if you have the same issue with wi-fi.

It's a good idea but I don't think I have the energy to configure from scratch again, especially if the wifi still turns out to be problematic.
TBH, using the BT hub as an access point is actually better for me as the wifi is a lot faster. Obvs, this all assumes that the access point stays stable...
Once some other feature of the RTN66U dies then I can revisit upgrading this hodge-podge network system I've made.